It's time for my final post! Don't worry, I'll make it as brief as I can :-)
After leaving Fiji I made it safely back to Lucia's where the mammoth task of making everything fit into my bags began. It was like packing away in the beginning! In my travels in and NZ and the South Pacific I had picked up a few more things, mostly Christmas and gifts for family. I had been fortunate enough though to be able to leave things in Lucia's as I had been travelling so I now had to figure out how to fit everything in. At this point I decided to ditch a few things, mostly clothes. To be honest they were pretty much falling apart anyway - 7 months of constant wear and constant hand-washing is not good for clothes!
I had a day and a half in Auckland before my epic journey home (more about that shortly) so it was good to have a final catch up with Lu. I think it's only now that I'm home that it's really sinking in that she now lives so far away! I also got the chance to have a drink with Kelly and Hayden from the Odyssey group who are now living in Auckland.
After some final farewells it was time to start the journey home. The flights that I had booked were not how I would choose to fly home from Auckland, but given that my plans had changed and I was not going to the Philippines, I had to alter my flights and the route was longer than I would have preferred but the best option available at the time. In all it was to take me more than two days travelling on 5 different flights as follows:
Auckland to Melbourne - 3.5 hours
2 hours in Melbourne Airport
Melbourne to Singapore - 8 hours
15 hours in Singapore, including clearing immigration and changing terminal
Singapore to Kuala Lumpur - 1 hour
3 hours in Kuala Lumpur Airport
Kuala Lumpur to Heathrow - 14 hours
5 hours in Heathrow, including clearing immigration and changing terminal
Heathrow to Edinburgh - 1 hour
I am not going to lie, it was hellish. I had already booked and paid for accommodation in Singapore as it was supposed to have a night there before heading to the Philippines so I headed there for a few hours to get a shower and some sleep, which was great. The 14 hour flight to London though felt like it took forever, I honestly think I watched the flight information screen showing 'Time to Destination' count down for 14 full hours! There were times I had a pair of these so I could click my heels and be home.....
Anyway I made it back to Scottish soil and it was lovely to be met at the airport by Gillian, Natalie and Liz. We headed towards home and picked up Mick before heading to my house. My mum, Viki, Keira and Tracy were there. Viki and Tracy knew I was coming but it was a surprise for Keira and my mum - well worth the hassle of keeping it secret just to see their faces! I think they were pleased to see me :-) An hour or so later it was time to surprise my dad, who had been at a night out. After some more emotional hellos it was time for bed! After me being the one doing the surprising, there was a surprise for me - Gillian and Viki had decorated my bedroom whilst I was away (anyone who know me well will know that painting is something I hate more than most things so this was totally appreciated!). They had put this transfer on the wall which I think totally sums up the past year....
I spent the next few weeks getting over my jet lag (it was a complete and utter nightmare turning round the 13 hour time difference), catching up with friends and family, trying to do this blog and getting ready for Christmas. All of that is over now and it's time for me to go back to work tomorrow. I have to say that I am very pleased to be home. It was a long time to be away and I was ready to come back - it was hard work living out of a backpack and never spending more than a few days in the one place. It was exhausting but amazing at the same time.
I suppose it's time for me to get reflective about the whole experience - but I'm not going to say too much. I didn't do this to 'find myself' or for some life changing experience. I think I know who I am already and I think my life is pretty good too. I did it because, after 20 years of working I decided that I wanted a break from it all. I was in a fortunate position of being able to do this financially and I decided to combine this time off with the opportunity of travelling. It has been amazing - I have met some wonderful people whom I hope I will stay in touch with, shared some fantastic experiences and been to some spectacular places. If anyone gets the chance to do any sort of travel of this nature I say go for it, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
As for future travels, the world is a big place and there's still a lot I'd like to see. In fact for Christmas my mum and dad bought me a map where you can scratch off all of the countries you've been to.....
As you can see there's loads still to be scratched off but that will (hopefully) be done during shorter holidays over the course of my lifetime rather than a big trip like this. Well that's my view at the moment but never say never! As for the next destinations, I have my eye on a few places - Canada, Cuba, Morocco and Central America to name a few but all in good time. I also plan to see more of the UK - I've spent a lot of time money and energy travelling when there is a beautiful country right here to see. Let me know if you fancy joining me at all, company is always welcome!
All that remains to be said is thanks for reading - it hasn't been easy keeping up this blog!
PS - I was going to write a whole lot of hints and tips for future travellers but decided against it. If however, you would like any of this information I'd be more than happy to pass it on from both mine and my fellow travellers perspectives.
No comments:
Post a Comment